Make Sure Of It
by yourmirroroferised
Summary: Minerva is still dealing with the repercussions of her reckless time-travel adventures. But now, she has Albus by her side. But when their situation becomes more complicated than either one thought was possible, will they be able to handle the strain and keep their sanity intact? Follows after God Only Knows. ADMM. M rating is mostly for safety.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story follows after God Only Knows, but stands as an independent work. There is a bit of overlapping exposition in this first chapter, and much of the backstory is left unsaid, on a vague assumption that the audience is largely carry over. Again, much of this story is based on tropes from MMAD fanfic c. 2004.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the intellectual property of JK Rowling, and Warner Brothers. I do not own any of her characters, nor the settings she created. I derive no profit from this work, and in no way infringe on the earning power of Ms. Rowling.

Happiness was too tame a word to describe how Minerva McGonagall felt.

Even now, bent over the toilet, losing the contents of her stomach, Minerva revelled in the warmth of Albus Dumbledore's hands tenderly caressing her back. He held her hair out of the way with a frequently practiced spell.

Over the two years since she originally fell to Chronos' Curse, McGonagall, and eventually Dumbledore, became accustomed to the occasional bout of nausea, or the infrequent feverish day. And, every once in a great while, Minerva would wake in the middle of the night, having "travelled" yet again to an alternate timeline. But now, when she snapped back from the bodies of these other Minervas, she was surrounded by the strong, soothing arms of the man she loved. her mother and Poppy were always a floo call away for those moments when her heart ached for the lonely Dumbledore she left in an alternate timeline or the days when she was overwhelmed with thoughts of her lost child. It had not been an easy two years, but it was made bearable, even pleasant, by the support of friends and family.

Lacking the energy to stand from the bathroom floor, Minerva simply leaned back against Albus' chest. The beating of his heart echoed her own, and his magical aura soothingly mingled with hers. After a few moments of repose, Albus broke the silence.

"This is the third day this week, darling." Minerva ignored his worried tone for a moment and simply enjoyed the rumble of his voice on her back. Getting no response from her, Albus pushed the issue: "Don't you think it's time to see Poppy?"

Minerva sighed heavily. Poppy was her closest friend, but when Minerva was required to see her friend professionally, the visit felt like a step backwards in her long recovery. This latest wave of sickness was the first since just before Albus and Minerva's wedding three months ago. Minerva almost couldn't bring herself to admit that this record streak of good health had been broken. "I suppose I could go after my first class." Albus stood and pulled her up after him. Minerva turned to look up at him, hopefully, "It might just be this nasty flu that's been among the students lately?"

"In which case, Poppy will put you to rights, I'm sure." Albus smiled encouragingly. "I can go with you, if you like? I don't have any meetings until this afternoon."

"No." Minerva nearly shouted at him. His presence treated the issue as more serious than Minerva wanted to acknowledge. "Thank you, though, darling." She stretched up to kiss his smiling lips, and they set about getting ready to go to breakfast. The vestiges of nausea told Professor McGonagall she would have to forgo enjoying breakfast again today, but as Deputy Headmistress, she had to at least put in an appearance.

After a very encouraging OWL class with her fifth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, Minerva strode into the Hospital Wing with bolstered optimism.

Poppy showed only a hint of surprise at Minerva's visit. While she had grown happily used to Minerva's regular social calls, she was not expecting Professor McGonagall to seek out her professional skills. But, experience taught her that Minerva McGonagall preferred to have as little fuss as possible when she was forced to call upon the Hogwarts Mediwitch. So Poppy Pomfrey bit her tongue, even though she realized that Minerva hadn't had any major recurrences of Chronos' Curse since late June. Now, at the beginning of November, this visit marked the end of the longest streak of good health Professor McGonagall had enjoyed over the past two years. Wordlessly a reassuring smile, Poppy led her friend back to one of the three private rooms at the back of the wing.

"Now, Minerva, what seems to be bothering youy listened to Minerva's symptoms a pesky suspicion swelled in the back of her mind. On any other occasion (and all ready once, in this very room, with a very distressed student) Poppy would attribute her described symptoms to pregnancy and run a simply set of test spells. For Minerva, however, a more thorough approach had to be taken. Not only was her body still recovering from a major, and not completely understood, illness, but Professor McGonagall had other physical considerations as well.

Nearly two years ago, Minerva had suffered from a physically traumatic miscarriage in conjunction with her initial diagnosis. However, because they were deeply focused on getting Minerva out of critical condition, Madam Pomfrey and Healer Quintas, an expert in time-travel health issues, had decided to perform an emergency D&C procedure, removing the remains of the pregnancy tissue from Minerva's uterus before infection or excessive bleeding could occur. Honestly, Pomfrey and Quintas were still not sure if it was this life-saving procedure or the Chronos' Curse that led to the abnormal scarring on Minerva McGonagall's uterus. Regardless of the cause, the result was that Professor McGonagall would have a difficult time getting pregnant again. They had discussed this with Minerva, and she expressed a strong wish to prevent pregnancy for quite some time. The sequelae of Minerva's miscarriage stretched far beyond the physical.

So, despite her nagging instinct, Poppy belayed her initial diagnosis, and ran through the typical battery of tests she used when tending to Professor McGonagall. The tests returned nothing, and Poppy's relief at this result must have showed.

"I knew everything was fine!" Minerva protested. She started to sit up, but Poppy stilled her.

"Hold on, Minerva!" Poppy placed a staying hand on her shoulder. "That just means we've eliminated the usual suspects. Something is not quite right, we just haven't found the cause yet." She commenced a second, more general round of spells.

Thirty minutes later, Poppy was aimlessly shuffling papers in her office. She hated nothing more than feeling helpless. She wanted to go to Minerva, to make everything better. But, as with most things in Minerva's present situation, there was no instantaneous fix. Madam Pomfrey's strongest elixir in this case would be her constant emotional support for her dear friend. She hoped to Merlin it would be enough.

/*\/*\/*\

Albus was deeply concerned about his wife. The poor woman had dealt with so many repercussions of her impetuous actions, Minerva's continued suffering was sheer cruelty. He tried to connect with her after the period when she was supposed to have visited Poppy. However, he saw her only briefly, and she made it quite clear that they would talk about her visit later. This did not bode well. Ignoring a pressing stack of paperwork, Albus went to their shared quarters as soon as he knew Minerva would have wrapped up her other duties and returned as well.

He was greeted by a vacant suite of rooms. Minerva was not back yet. She was only at her grading this long if she was weighed down by distraction. This was another bad omen. Minerva McGonagall was never distracted.

Hoping to distract himself, he picked up an alchemy article he was in the midst of reviewing, and began to listlessly page through it. When the door opened, he nearly ripped a page in half as he jumped to his feet. The Headmaster rushed to greet his wife. She have him an absent-minded kiss, drifted through her usual settling in routine, and finally froze, unnaturally in the middle of the sitting room facing Albus.

As she removed her teaching robes, Albus noticed that her hands were shaking. When she pulled the pins from her tight bun, he was shocked by how sunken her eyes had suddenly become. And as she sorted a few books and one or two pages of notes into their appropriate places, Dumbledore grew nervous at the listless nature of her movement. And now that Minerva stood facing him full on, he could wait no more. He stood from his seat, greeted her, walked toward and opened his arms to embrace her. He was shocked when, at the last minute, she stepped back.

With a terrified look in her eyes, Minerva McGonagall broke and sobbed "I'm pregnant!"

She immediately burst into tears.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as tears started to streak down Minerva's cheeks, Albus drew her into his arms. This time, she did not pull back.

Albus Dumbledore's relationship with Minerva McGonagall had created many emotional dilemmas in his life. First, he had to deal with potential ethical conflicts inherent in being attracted to, and eventually courting and marrying another staff member. Then there was the fact that Minerva had fallen deeply in love with an older, alternate version of Dumbledore. And, with rumors of a new dark lord gathering followers, Albus was frequently wracked with guilt over his stupidity at entangling Minerva in his danger-ridden life. But none of these conundrums approached the turmoil wrapped up in this new dilemma.

On one hand, Albus was thrilled Minerva was pregnant. Despite the added risk of raising children, Dumbledore had recently started to consider fatherhood, and found that he genuinely hoped to become a father one day. In his heart of hearts, he dreamed of teaching his child to ride a broom, of having snowball fights with them, and introducing them to his favorite pieces of music. And Minerva was the only woman he would have as the mother of his children. The idea of raising a child with her filled him a happiness so overwhelming, he had to fight the urge to burst into a radiant grin. While Professor McGonagall played the part of the stern task master, he knew of no one more nurturing, more emotionally invested in her charges.

But, Albus deeply desired firmness of mind and body for his wife. Already, this child was taking a toll on Minerva's body. Nine months of such a strain would be unthinkable. And Albus knew Minerva was still grieving the loss of her first child. The stress of carrying another child in her current physical condition would only make her situation worse.

As a man, Dumbledore wanted nothing more than to have a child with this amazing woman. As a husband, he knew he could offer his council and his support, but it was Minerva's body and ultimately her decision. Hoping to help her work through her fears, Albus led his wife to the sette. Once they were seated side by side, Minerva's sobs became less and less frequent. Eventually, his wife was able to take a deep, steadying breath and look him in the face. Albus patiently waited until she was ready to speak.

"Poppy says I'm at two months." Minerva stated, matter-of-factly. Albus could tell she was avoiding the more challenging parts of the conversation, but he held his peace, just the same. "And the baby appears to be healthy. Even though I've been taking contraceptive potions, they appear to be just as unreliable as the other standard medicinal potions I've tried." She took a deep, shaky breath, and Albus thought she might be moving into more emotional topics, "In the future, she suggests we use a contraceptive spell." Once this flow of information ceased, she shifted her gaze down to her hands, where she was fiercely twisting and knotting her navy blue robe. She almost flinched when one of Albus' strong hands gently lay on top of her fidgety digits.

"Minerva, I know this is a difficult situation, but I am here for you." Albus gently rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. "Let me help you through this, darling." While he was speaking, Minerva lifted her eyes to his face. As he finished, she looked incredulous, on the point of tears even. Baffled, Albus grasped both her hands and squeezed them, "I love you, my amazing Minerva. I will be here for you as long as I draw breath. We're the most powerful mages in the world. Together, we can face anything." The warmth of his eyes seemed to ease some of the panic from her face.

"Och, I think I'm still in shock more than anything!" Minerva sighed heavily, She was visibly less tense, "Poppy and Healer Quintas had so carefully prepared me for the possibility of being unable to get pregnant, I pushed parenthood out of the realm of current possibilities. But now, almost miraculously, I'm with child a year after we began an intimate relationship. It seems..." She paused, struggling for the right word, "it seems ungrateful to...to... reject such precious gift. What if I am unable to conceive again? What if this is our only chance at creating a child?"

"My love, I have no experience as a father, and very little as a husband, but I know that as a person, one cannot live in fear of what may happen." As Minerva's anxiety clearly mounted, Albus had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms. He knew that would put an end to this much-needed conversation. "If we are not ready to be parents, or if you are not physically ready for childbirth, having a child could be the less grateful of the two choices. If.. Something were to happen to you, and I was left raising this child on my own... I do not know if I could, Minerva." Looking into his eyes, Minerva saw a mix of anguish and shame she had only seen when they were discussing the Albus from the alternate timeline. "Above all else, I want you, safe and healthy, far more than I want a child." The intensity of his gaze drew Minerva in, and she could not look away.

"Oh, Albus." She whispered, choking up again. And then he did draw his wife into his embrace. But Minerva continued. "Poppy says that I have a higher risk for pregnancy complications than most women do. But, unfortunately, she doesn't think that waiting will reduce that risk. The damage to my body has already been done, and it's very unlikely that time will repair it." She paused, mulling over ideas for a few minutes. "Having a baby will not be easy," Minerva settled back to look Albus in the eye, "But if I wanted an easy life, I suppose I wouldn't have married you." He grimaced at the truth in her words, but when he caught sight of her smile, he grinned as well.

"I would love to have children with you, my darling." Albus ventured. It was the first time he had expressed a direct opinion about their situation. "I want us to have a family, and I want to be parents together. If that happens six months or six years from now, I won't complain. And if we never have children, it will make life with you no less wonderful, my beautiful wife." He cupped Minerva's cheek and kissed her forehead.

"If we keep this baby," Albus noted that Minerva seemed more calm than she had during the entire discussion. His wife had settled with her back against his chest, tiredly leaning into him much as she had that morning in the bathroom. "I will probably be sick much more frequently. I might suffer from mood swings, could lose my temper at you. I may even have to go on bedrest. Poppy warned me that it won't be smooth sailing." Albus felt her back tense against him, "I could lose this one, too." She whispered, softly. Albus wrapped his arms around her and leaned forward to press his cheek against hers.

"We will get through it, darling. I will take care of you day and night if I have to." He murmured against her cheek, "And as for your temper… well, I can still remember most of my Auror training." He felt her face curve into a smile at the joke. "But I can think of nothing more wonderful than being a parent with you."

Minerva suddenly twisted around to sit on her knees, facing him. Her face was inches from his, her eyes frantically pouring over his face, "Can we do this, Albus?" She whispered, her face a gorgeous mixture of excitement and apprehension. "_Should_ we do this, my love?"

Albus locked eyes with her, and with more confidence than he knew he had, he replied, smiling, "Yes. I believe we can."

Minerva leaned in to kiss him soundly and instead of pulling away, she slipped around to his ear. "Then, congratulations, Professor Dumbledore, you're going to be a father."

The rest of the evening was lost in private celebration.

/*\/*\/*\

The morning after Minerva's fraught examination, Poppy caught sight of her friend on the way to breakfast. With raised eyebrows, she cast a silently meaningful look at Professor McGonagall. Minerva broke into, by her standards, an enormous grin and nodded.


End file.
